How Volkswagen Front Assist with Autonomous Emergency Braking Works

Stay safe in your Volkswagen with the Front Assist system with Autonomous Emergency Braking, which both warns you of a potential collision and brakes the vehicle to minimize the impact of a collision. Watch this video to see how the system works.

I purchased a 2019 Jetta Premium in April 2019. I understand your dealership is in California and I am in Canada, but I am hoping you till be able to provide a little information regarding the Autonomous Emergency Braking (AEB). On the day we drove our Jetta home, the AEB system seemed to be work once (while approaching an intersection), but under similar circumstances since then, it has not worked. I have had the system checked by two different dealers and they can’t find a reason why it is not working. I’ve gone on road tests with their technicians to explain and demonstrate the problem and the scan/diagnostics program has been run on the vehicle with no faults showing with the system. Under situations as demonstrated in the video above, my car would have crashed into the vehicles in front in all cases. Therefore I am really not sure if it will assist with a crash avoidance in any driving scenario.

On three occasions, the Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) failed and the vehicle had to be cycled off and on to reset it. It appears to be working fine now and the Forward Assist does what it is supposed to do. The car’s speed is adjusted when a slower moving vehicle is encountered on the highway with cruise engaged. However, AEB does not work under any circumstance. If I understand correctly, the ACC and AEB use the same radar system, which would lead me to believe there might be a software or calibration issue for the AEB.

The vehicle has 6200 kms (3800 miles) on the odometer and has been towed to the dealer twice for fuel related issues and I am wondering if being on a tow truck may have caused a problem with the system.

Can you tell me if there has been a similar issue in the USA with this automatic safety system failing in late model VWs and if you know of a way to perform a software update or calibration to reset it.